from Moodle News
http://www.moodlenews.com/2011/moodle-monday-big-blue-button-by-timdalton/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MoodleNews+%28Moodle+News%29
Another great post from Tim Dalton. always balanced and well informed.
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from Moodle News
http://www.moodlenews.com/2011/adding-video-feedback-to-the-assignment-activity/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MoodleNews+%28Moodle+News%29
Looks like an interesting feedback method although I do wonder how my students will respond to seeing me giving them their feedback.
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I have been offered a lot for my work, but never everything. Chris Adams – Yul Brynner (The Magnificent Seven).
I have spent a fair amount of time reflecting on course design and why the gradebook is somewhat of a late bloomer, in terms of Moodle core features and its use by moodlers (if at all). I don’t mean to harp on about how great a moodle gradebook can be, but if you agree and you do think there is something in ‘gradebook inspired Moodle course design’ then here seven course design tips for you to consider.
Now, rest assured you efforts will be worthwhile, as the gradeook will manage your submissions, deadlines and return your feedback. Nice.
With your gradebook built, your categories ordered, your course frame built, apply the do’s and don’ts of course design, and focus on designing great learning assets and engaging learning pathways.
Michelle Moore in her ‘Teaching with Moodle – Best practices in Course Design’ offers some valuable advice, and for good measure, here is my two cents worth…
Investigate alternative course formats, HTML block as menus, collapsed courses.
Communicate visually, (create an icon repository), use an icon set as a signpost learner – possibly through a shared in a repository.
Use mouse-overs to communicate with the user or reveal new content.
Schedule ‘air blocks’ into the course. Opportunities to allow learners to catch up, for revision, to retake quizzes, for diversion or even self directed learning.
Promote communication between students using forum, the comments block and messages. Encourage comments on blog entries.
Bring in live feeds via RSS or use the random glossary entry.
Share feedback via the course completion block or the quiz block.
Prompt action and organisation using the calendar, upcoming events or by showing recent events.
Don’t over egg the conditional formatting tool. Remember we want to encourage self-directed learning.
Look for alternatives to text flow, for example mp3s (Myna), flowcharts, mind maps (ekpenso 1.9) YouTube, (flipped teaching), Voicethreads, Vokis and more.
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Design is personal. One man’s fashion is another man’s faux par and so it is with Moodle course design. There are a number of very good blog posts, screencasts and seminars available, over at Moodlenews there is a category devoted to course formats and it seems to have become a focus of the comprehensive and fantastic iMoot11….
There was a problem connecting to Twitter.…however effective course design (style) is of minimal value if not matched by effective learning design (substance). Once past the broad stroke ‘Do’s and Don’ts’ and ‘how to pimp’ your Moodle course, where next? But I am desperately trying to avoid substance of style type response here.
Let me ask you this question…. ‘What were the first Moodle skills you learnt or that were introduced to you?’ And if you are a school leader…. ‘What were the first Moodle skills you shared?’ I am going to hazard a guess at ‘upload a file.’* if you are nodding in agreement, I am going to argue we were wrong and we should have started with the Moodle gradebook. That after you have designed your course, but before you build the learning assets, you should design and then build your gradebook, including the scales and outcomes.
Building a gradebook requires teachers / educators / facilitators (TEFs) to consider the course in its entirety and how learning will be measured. Gradebook categories then help provide course structure and ‘maximum grade’ assigned to each activity of assignment defines its weighting within the category/course. (Aggregation of items can further refine assessment measures but honestly, wait until you are comfortable with the gradebook, if you are just looking for a total then use ‘sum of the grades.’)With scales and outcomes illustrating and/or informing the marking process your students should understand where or how to improve their work. New learning assets or assignments can be easily added, or left open for improvement, closed or deleted. Hopefully, my persuasive style is winning you over? Without doubt, effective gradebook design will encourage TEFs to consider course substance whilst contributing some structure and the use of feedback, scales and outcomes amplify your learning design.
There is current a forum discussion over at Moodle.org reviewing the gradebook. It is looking at how internal improvements that might have significant impacts on the gradebook usage. The discussion highlights two points, that Moodle gradebooks are “NOT SIMPLE” and second that TEFs familiarity with Excel impairs their uptake with gradebooks.
Its is encouraging to know that the the changes Moodle HQ are thinking about would bring “useful features for advanced Moodle users while simple usage would remain simple.” Well lets hope simpler still!
IMHO, somehow incorporating into the assignment or activity an ‘add to gradebook YES/NO’ pathway would help manage the gradebook as well as raise its profile. Second, there is an opportunity to raise the profile of the gradebook by showing an assignment submission count or assignment waiting to be graded. A topic I have covered previously.
I am looking forward to the gradebook debate continuing and when the new or improved gradebook will feature?
‘upload a file.’* incidentally I wish I never shared how to upload a file with colleagues. First it just meant I was encouraging staff to use Moodle as yet another shared file repository and second any changes to that document meant downloading, editing and overwriting the original. Quite honestly, a complete waste of time. Simply create a webpage. If the content needs updating, click edit, and change it.
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Sorry its taken so long to post this final commentary. Following the ‘knowledge cafe’ I attended two final Workshops, the final keynote and then debated Moodle, Mahara, Family and professional life-work balance with Roger from Solent University (quick plug for Solent’s Mahara Conference). So, back to Mootuk11.
I have followed and tweeted sporadically with Alex Büchner from Synergy Learning for maybe a year now. Just informal Moodle conversation. Alex’s tweets are purposeful, Moodle focused and therefore enable me to ‘piggy back’ the thinking of an experienced practitioner deeply immersed in Moodle. An added bonus, is that it would appear that Alex also has a healthy interest in the gamification of learning with/in Moodle, so together with Pieter van der Hijden (Mootuk10) and myself that would make at least of three of us? Anyone else? If there is, please get in touch.
By his own admission, Alex was trying to repurpose only the core Moodle features and modules to create a Moodle learning / gaming experience. Relying mainly on ‘conditions’ and learning cul de sacs, Alex created a basic game complete with leaderboard, possible a cheat thrown in there too. I am sure that a number of plugins would solve some of the problems he was discussing with the audience, for example stamp collection module to collect required items and awards and the checklist module as an alternative assessment tool, but respectful, Alex stuck to his self-imposed parameters. Sadly he ran out of time, chat never quite made it. I am hoping to explore this learning approach with Alex and other interested Moodlers further (@suggsburgess) and you are of course welcome to join us. It will be Moodle 2.0 based, so servers two purposes, getting to know Moodle 2.0 and exploring a Moodle games based learning model.
The new Moodle question engine has been an 18 month working project, ready to go “fingers crossed,” into Moodle 2.1. Until the moot, few people outside the Open University had seen it and Tim Hunt was kind enough to take delegates on a LIVE tour. Tim’s presentation not only demonstrated his commitment to this module but sheer depth of his Moodle knowledge and know-how. I separate the two definitions for a very good reason. Tim clearly knows Moodle (he made a number of insightful contributions in one or two workshops we coincidentally attended), but what impressed most was his awareness of how the quiz engine would later be employed and his understanding of how questioning could be employed to reveal student learning. Tim is openly looking for feedback so do get in touch, I would think preferably through the Moodle Tracker.
Tim Anstiss – Dr Tim Anstiss provided us with an overview of the emerging science of personal wellbeing and his top 10 tips for protecting and improving our levels of happiness, wellbeing and resilience into the future.
Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed the conversational style and polished delivery of this former Gladiator’s competitor and physician, drawing comment from the audience, immediately aligning it with psychological research speak. Inspired by Tim’s keynote I do hope to find time to write a post on “happiness and Moodle,” so for now, that is it. Do self medicate and watch the video when it is released.
The final point of note from me, is a personal one. Together and the very amiable Jim Judges, we presented our light-hearted conference reflections.
Here I again encourage you to attend next year’s moot, where ever it may be, for this simple reason
Digital communication enhances relationships, it does not replicate or replace them. (Gráinne Conole)
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